Deceptions
by Draconicality
Summary: Oliver's been hiding an incredible secret; what happens when a certain blonde-haired playboy finds it out? (OliverEnrique, KaiEmily, MaxMariah...and NOT yaoi! You figure it out! ) At long last, Chapter 3!
1. Hidden

_Do I trust some and get fooled by phoniness,   
Or do I trust nobody and live in loneliness?   
Because I can't hold on, when I'm stretched so thin   
I make the right moves but I'm lost within   
I put on my daily façade but then   
I just end up getting hurt again_

**- "By Myself," Linkin Park**

Everyone's life is supposed to start when they are born.  I guess that's true, in a literal sense.  Of course; that's when you come out into the world, you start to think, talk, see, explore, and learn.  

Did anyone ever tell you that there can be times when you start life all over again?  Events happen, and sometimes they change things so much that the only way to cope is to end and begin.  People close to you die; disasters happen, and so do miracles.

I had to begin life again, in such a way.  Father and Mother died young, as the rich so often do, unlucky victims of a horrendous plane crash.  I still remember it vividly, particularly when I look at my bare arm with its pale crescent scars.  Marie had been holding my arm; as Jean-Pierre related the news, her fingers had tightened until the long nails pierced my skin and I screamed.  

I never really knew them; ten years old and I could count on my fingers the times I saw their faces within the mansion.  Life went on as always.  I received schooling at home, my butlers and maids and servants caring for me.  Louis taught me the basics of cooking.  I was content to grow up alone.  No other children figured in my life, but I was happy.

One, of course, will eventually grow curious.  If not about the world outside the fence, then the world within the fence.  

The garden that surrounds the house grows somewhat wild even now, and back then it was something of a forest, despite the best efforts of the gardeners to tame it.  It was very good for hiding in, and for hiding things in. 

Was I the first one to find out just how good?  I doubt it.

----------

_It leads me on, deeper into the stand of trees, frustrating my efforts to catch even the barest glimpse.  A rustle here, a shimmer there.  I growl and charge through a screen of brush._

_The small clearing seems bare and empty, but something glitters on the ground, catching my eye.  I pick it up, turning in over in my fingers._

_A clear, multifaceted crystal winks light up at me.  Thin veins of silver and gold run through it, forming the vaguest idea of animalistic shape._

_I know this._

_I have found what I am looking for.  _

_The Presence whispers in recognition, and then light flares up from my cupped palms, bright and pure.  Clear, resonant chiming echoes around me, within me, through me, carrying with it the unseen something, strange and intense and nowhere near tame.  _

**thou accept thy right**

I…accept.  _It is a reply with no hesitation.  I feel as though within me, some strange dark hole has been filled._

_The voice-not-a-voice swirls around me in strains of melody, hypnotic, alluring.  _

**destined  **

**fate**

**to master  **

_Strange blurred images overlap the air within my vision and I reel back._

Why must I do this?

_It rings meaninglessly and goes unanswered.  _**all will be well…my _knight_**

_My reply verges on panic, a garbled mixture of questions that it - no, _she _answers in a short burst of melody, sonorous and joyful._

**i am the unicorn**

**you are of me**

**my _knight!_**

**----------**

It took a few more months after that for me to learn about Beyblading.

Unicolyon, as it turns out, knew more about this sort of thing than I did.  It took a while to figure out even the smallest aspects of the sport, and only with her guidance did I learn how to hold and launch a Beyblade…how to battle with one.  

Those were some of the best times of my life, to stand poised with my launcher above the rim of the bowl and feel the spirit move through me, as though we were a single being rather than two separate entities.  To pull, feel the smoothness of the blade's flight into the dish.  To call Her, my beautiful guardian, from the crystal chip that _just fitted in that slot located on the top of the Blade…_

Of course, one must find others to do battle with.  For the first time, I found myself wanting to leave the grounds within which I had spent my life.  

I wanted to do battle with others besides myself.

And I would find them…

----------

From the start, I had one major obstacle keeping me from becoming a respected, professional Blader.

Although many, many thousands of people around my age enjoy Beylading, one gender is usually regarded above the other, as in so many other cases.  Male Bladers held the reins of the sport.  Those of the opposite gender strove to make their way to the top, and a single mistake, a single lost match, could result in complete downfall.

I never even had a chance.

_"No!  Unicolyon!"_

_Mocking laughter. "Beat it, kid!  You're not WORTH battling!"_

**_I lost…_**

****

**_I failed…_**

****

**_Unicolyon, what can I do now?_**

****

_A tinge of light on the edge of the mind's consciousness, and my Spirit's voice is there, soothing.  _

**there is still a way**

**-------**

_Four years later…_

"Oliver, c'mon!  Move, we're gonna be late for lunch!  You _know how Mr. Fusspot Jurgen is!"_

A distinctive head of rust-colored hair leans back around the doorway.  "Oh, Robert is SO going to kill you when he finds out you said that-!"

My Italian companion howls in despair, pursuing the redhead futilely into the castle.  "JOH~NNY!  Come on!  You know I didn't mean it!  Please!  Don't tell!  Don't – _oof!_"

I shake my head and smile faintly, strolling leisurely among Robert's well-managed flowerbeds.  I helped to cook after all; surely Robert won't deny me my food for being late!  (He knows I'll poison his next meal if he tries…ha.  But seriously, the guy is nicer than that.)

_Nice to get a little private time, don't you think Unicolyon? _

My Bitbeast stirs lightly within my mind, giving the sense of something close to a smile. 

Oh, how pretty!  Robert must have installed one of those little ornamental ponds since the last time we visited his castle…

**shed**** the disguise awhile**

Eh, why not…

I remove the beret and pull away the numerous pins it conceals, sighing with relief.  Freed of its constraints, my long hair tumbles haphazardly down, well past my shoulders.

**look**** upon yourself  Unicolyon murmurs.  ****what**** have you become?  what will you be?**

The pond serves its purpose too well – I groan as I catch my reflection in the waters.  Long, wavy green hair, wide amethyst eyes, slender build, expensive and deceptively simple-looking clothing.  This is who I am.

**is**** it not time to give up this charade?  **

_No, no!  You don't understand…you don't…if they find out, if they EVER find out, something disastrous is going to happen!  I can't, I just can't!_

**you**** are afraid she sighs.  ****you** need more time, my knight…but this cannot last forever****

You haven't gotten it yet, have you?

Have you?

Look upon me now, whoever you are.  Do you see me?  See the lie I grew into?

If you haven't figured it out yet, let me tell you now.

My true name is Olivia Agnès Gabrielle Polanski.

You know me more simply as _Oliver._

~-~-~-~-~-

A/N: MUHAHAHAHAHA!  I reached four pages and finished the first chapter!  Wow!  And I'm actually liking the way this story turns out XD Maybe I exaggerated the whole situation of men-over-women, but hey, it's the central point of the story. 

I wanted to find a piece of songscript that fit each chapter.  Mesa likes Linkin Park XD

Let me point out here that this entire story would never have been written if it were not for Badboyblader.  "Deceptions" is his brainchild.  Although some of the ideas here are my own, the basics of the story are his.  You could call it an even deal – he does ideas, and I take them in to produce this fanfic.  So, thanks muchlies, BBB.  How d'you like it so far?  I'm sorry it took so long.

R and R, readers!  Every writer loves their feedback! ^_^v


	2. Alarum

_That you're my little secret  
And that's how we should keep it  
We should never let 'em know  
Never let it show  
But you know like I know  
We should never let it go_

**"My Little Secret" by Xscape**

**i**** am the unicorn**

**i**** am timeless.  i do not choose champions lightly**

**if**** my knight**

**brave**** as she is in all aspects but this one**

**will**** not act**

**i**** shall**

**----------**

"Oliver."  The familiar voice seems to come from some distance away.  "Hey, Oliver."

I realize slowly that someone is tapping me on my arm, and has been for the fast few minutes.  I break off my reverie, looking into bright blue eyes.  "Oui?"

"Are you all right, man?  You came in all spacey and…yeah…"  Enrique trails off, looking uncertain, and I cover the turmoil of inside worry with a bright, false grin.

Silently I curse myself for the vanity that prompted me to keep my hair so long, rather than reverting to a shorter style that would have assured greater security.  The situation I am in at the moment is not a common one – if not for Unicolyon I would not have removed the pins that added to my illusion, increasing the danger of discovery.  In normal cases, I had arranged my hair so well that even if my beret fell off, the pins – all but invisible – would keep it in its usual place.  However, when I had heard Gustav begin calling for me, I hadn't had enough time to do more than…well…basically, stuff it under my hat.  

_Just act normal, _I tell myself.  _Act perfectly normal and keep everyone's attention off me and just retire to bed as soon as possible.  Thank goodness Robert's castle is so large.  No worries about sharing rooms…not that I haven't managed before, but STILL!_

"You're doing it again."

_Damn you and your perceptiveness!  _"Sorry, Enrique.  I'm just tired from the flight in, I guess…"

Thankfully, my Italian friend is polite enough to leave it at that.  It's _a truth anyway; Robert must have seen me covering up my yawns, since he rises to his feet.  After complimenting my cooking, he drops a few not-too-subtle hints that we should go to bed.  (Or, if I know my team members, Johnny's case will involve late-night chess losses.  I swear if Robert bet money on their matches, he'd have absorbed half of the MacGregor clan's fortune by now.)  Grateful, I retreat down the hallway to a familiar guest room, dropping on the bed with a sigh._

"Dieu…"

And like I said, it wasn't a lie.  I'm exhausted.  Need…to…slee…p.

**the**** time is**

"Zzzzz…"

**soon****?**

----------

_In a not-so distant dimension, we hear a distinctively female voice, chiming like a crystal bell and sounding positively peeved._

_"Aww, crap!__  She wasn't supposed to fall asleep YET! [1]"_

----------

"Robert…I think you should see this," Johnny called, waving a videotape.

"Hm?" Dark crimson eyes glanced across the room.  "I thought we'd arranged a chess game for tonight…?"

Johnny's lips tilted in the faintest of smirks.  "And we can guess how that would come out.  I'm serious, Robert, you need to watch this." 

"All right, all right…but I still think you're afraid to lose for the…um…"

"One thousand, six hundred ninety-third time…or I could win my seventh, you know. [2]"

Robert closed his eyes in shocked annoyance.  "Just play the bloody thing before a storm brews up and shorts the cables again."

On the wide screen, blue screens and scrolling lines of text cleared to reveal a plain stage – the sort normally used for talk shows, except that everything was in tasteful shades of blue or gray, and there was no glitter or glamour added to the scene, not even any people beyond who Robert presumed was the host, a dark-suited young man with hair an unusual blue-green colour.

Overall, a rather boring display.  Robert actually found himself irrelevantly thinking, _This__ guy's hair matches the chairs.  Almost._

"Hello all," murmured the young man pleasantly.  "Welcome to the debut of _Behind the Battles, _the show where the adoring fans – " Robert was amazed at how he could make it sound so much like an insult "-can get the down-and-dirty on their favorite Beybladers."

Robert, not usually one to formulate opinions on first impressions, immediately made an exception and decided that he did not like this man.

"Allow me to introduce myself," continued the host, inclining his head with a slightly mocking smile. "My name is Gus Gretta, formerly head columnist for the _Beyblading__ Times – some of you may have heard of me before." _

Off to the side, Robert heard Johnny snort.  "Yeah – he wrote that stupid article the Bladebreakers were so mad about, last time they visited."

Robert lifted an eyebrow.  "You mean…that nonsense about Mariah Chen being a two-timer?  About Max 'stealing Rei's girl' or some such uncouth trash?"

"Yeah.  This new show – it's worse, though."

Robert made a noncommittal noise which turned into an exclamation of surprise.  The boring scene had been replaced with what was obviously a video, the image wavering back and forth – apparently, someone had had trouble with the camera.  It showed the dim interior of a candlelit restaurant, where two _very _familiar figures talked softly over plates of what appeared to be pasta.

"Kai and…Emily?  What on Earth…"

The two Majestics watched as the video-Kai looked in the camera's direction, eyes narrowed in a familiar, extremely threatening pose.  The next few minutes were a turmoil of the image waving around too quickly to get any sort of clear picture, accompanied by a very Kai-like snarl of rage and the sound of a fist hitting flesh.  Emily's voice was clear in the background.  "Kai, _enough – oh, let's get away from here, dammit!"  and an incoherent noise that was probably a threat, before the image flickered and Gus Gretta's smiling image appeared back on the screen._

"As you ca-"

Johnny abruptly switched off the VCR, eyebrows knitted in anger.  

"Johnny, that was rude."

"I don't think you want to hear the rest – it's some crap about how Kai is 'dangerous and unstable and should be put away' – that sort of bullshit."

Robert waved it away, rising to his feet and taking the tape.  "So he follows well-known Beybladers around the area.  Does it mention anything about where he's supposed to be now…?"

Johnny shook his head.  "Nope.  But the White Tigers have seen him snooping, and so have the All-Starz.  Nothing too bad's happened yet, but he's annoying, and so far, we're the only major team he hasn't targeted...besides the Demolition Boys, but that's different."

"Ah."  Robert frowned in consternation – what timing, when his friends were actually on a rare social visit to his home!  "I'll have people look out for him…although it's not as if our team has any dirty secrets or illicit relationships to hide…I hope."  His mouth twitched in a rare smile of humor.

"Yeah," Johnny smirked.  "You got that right – and no idiot with a camera can do _any_thing to hurt our reputations!"

"Unless they happen to hear of your abysmal chess record."

"Shut up, Robert…say, shouldn't Enrique and Oliver see this?"

"Not tonight, Johnny.  Be considerate – they just got in, they must be dead asleep at this hour.  Best to save it for  tomorrow."

Johnny pouted.  "You're no fun, Rob.  So what about that chess match?"

----------

_Ugh._

_I'm so thirsty._

Robert won't mind my little midnight excursion to the kitchen, will he?  I'm not Tyson after all, because first, I know where the traps are (therefore I will not wake the castle up with my yells of fright,) and second, I will not decimate the Jurgen Castle food supply.  (Urgh.  I like cooking for people, but for Tyson Kinomiya, I have my limits.)

Besides, all I want is a glass of water.  And who would be in the kitchen at this hour?  Gustav?  I doubt it – he is hardly the type to be an insomniac.

Just in case, I jam my beret down hard over my hair.  No sense taking stupid risks – after all, I don't put it past any of the other Majestics to take a midnight snack.  Not even our captain.

Rubbing sleep from my eyes and yawning, I stride quickly through the hallways.  Jurgen Castle is one of the bloody creepiest places I've ever been in, especially at night.  All those family portraits on the walls seem to glare at me accusingly.

They're just paintings, but paintings of people that look an awful lot like Robert.  They make me feel guilty…it's not as though I like hiding this part of my identity from my teammates, my friends.  But if they find out…

Johnny will explode.  With Salamulyon, that's almost a literal interpretation.  And Robert - ever seen him mad?  He's _scary.  _All cold, harsh and forbidding, kind of like a bird of prey.  It's easy to see why the Jurgen family has Griffolyon as their protector and avatar.

But what about Enrique?

Knowing him, he'd treat it as a big joke.  Well…actually, I don't know.

Great.  Of all the Majestics, he's my closest friend, and I still haven't figured out how he would take my telling him this.

Just great.

----------

Olivia stopped short in the kitchen doorway, surprised.  Speak of the devil…

"Enrique?  What are you doing here?"

"Getting a midnight snack."  He yawned, just in time to miss an exasperated rolling of her eyes, and bit into a half-eaten mess of a sandwich.  "You?"

"Nah, just needed a drink..."  She proceeded to rummage through the fridge, with a lot of grumbling.  "All this and I can't find where he keeps the bloody _water…"_

"Need a hand?"  Enrique again, right behind her and too close for comfort.  She fidgeted nervously, shaking her head, and he grinned sleepily at her before returning to his seat.  Finally finding the object of her search, she sat down opposite her Italian friend, gulping the cool liquid with a sigh of relief.

"Hey…I've just been thinking.  I've never seen you without that hat on…"

Olivia's eyes widened.  _Merde_…__

"C'mon, Olli.  Just take it off for once, yeesh!  You'd think you were covering up baldness or something."  He laughed softly at his own joke, and before Olivia could move, had reached over and snatched the beret from her head.

Both of them sat rooted to the spot for a few moments, Olivia frozen with panic, Enrique goggling as the carefully piled hair tumbled past his friend's shoulders.  He broke the spell himself by choosing to gag on his unchewed bite of sandwich, and promptly began to cough loudly, eyes watering.  Olivia had no choice but to pound him on the back until the tremors stopped and he looked back up at her, jaw dropping slightly.

It took him a few incoherent squeaks, but he finally managed to get the words out.  "Oliver…y-you're a…girl?"

~-~-~-~-~-

[1] – Yes, that was Unicolyon.  I enjoy making Bitbeasts P.O.ed.

[2] – Because this AU Johnny can actually learn from his mistakes. *snerk*

And after the alarming show of popular demand, we finally have Chapter 2 with it's accompanying cliffhanger!  Don't you just love this? =P 

A bit BBB wants me to add: this whole thing was inspired by the movie Mulan.  (So, who can see the references? ;) ) Also, even though this is veeery slow, it will be finished eventually.  It's going to be part of an arc…so you have plenty to look out for XD

_ PinkDevil – XD Yes, __Linkin__Park__ rules…and here's more!  Muha!_

_HI – Erm…that's true encouragement for you…_

_Chain Gun – Mehe, yes, I find it a little odd myself, writing a non-yaoi fic…*huggles*_

Maroku: Must.  Write.  Yaoi—mmph!

BBB: *hand over her mouth* NO!  DON'T SAY IT!

Jorntil and Jiaan: *chorus* YAOI!

BBB: -_-*

_Sacria__: Sorry about the torture, I know it's been a long while since this was updated but…man…school was being the little hellhole it usually is… *yawns*_

_Draconis__ Gion: @_@_

Jorntil: Repetitive isn't he…OW!  

BBB: *retrieves his Megaman figure, whistling innocently* 

Jorntil: *evil glare*

BBB: Pocky?

_Flaming Pineapple: Actually, the plot is all set/planned out…we may use some of your ideas, though.  Sankyuu!_

_Riyao__ Machrine: Good to know – I'm waiting eagerly for an update XD You have a point – it can pass for a one-shot, can't it?  But it's not._

See you all in chapter 3!  Erm… *looks around for muses* O__O

All: *pigging out on Pocky*

_ BBB…do you have _any clue what a bad-_

Maroku: WAHAHAHA!  *things start randomly blowing up*

Jorntil: Mmmm…pretty colours…

*is singed* -idea that was?  Itai…

BBB: O.o;


	3. Warnings

_Old friends,  
Memory brushes the same years.  
Silently sharing the same fear.... _

**- "Old Friends," Simon and Garfunkel**

Strangely enough, though I should be panicking right about now, all I can think of is how absurdly_ **funny **_Enrique's expression is.

"A girl," he repeats for the umpteenth time.  Apparently, the message still hasn't sunk in.  "You're a girl.  Oliver, how can you be a girl?"  He sounds so plaintive.

"Not Oliver," I correct him gently.  "Olivia.  My name is Olivia."

Really, of all the Majestics, he's the one who should have figured it out by now.

----------

_The sun is shining, the birds are sing-- okay, the seagulls are squawking and attacking everything edible.  The sea is calm and sparkling blue and I'm miserable as can be._

_"Dude!  What's with the funky swimsuit?"_

_What was I supposed to do, go in swimming trunks and send all my teammates (and myself) to an early grave?  Go in a girl's swimsuit, with possibly the same result?  Stay in __McGregor__Castle__ when they knew I was most definitely not sick?_

_"Since I dislike the beach in the first place, be glad I decided to come at all.  Your taste in swimwear is far from exemplary, Giancarlo."  True enough.  Little dancing purple penguins are hardly to my taste, though they are quite amusing._

_"No need to get your boxers in a wad…"  His eyes rove over me, and I resist the urge to squirm.  "In that surf suit you could almost pass for a girl!"  And he laughs, blowing it all off as a big joke.  _

_Inside, I'm about ready to have a heart attack.  But before I can begin sputtering denial, he's thankfully distracted by his current horde of scantily-clad girlfriends.  _

_"Enrique-poo, you promised you'd show us your new yacht today!" one squeals._

_"Enrique-poo, let's get wet already!"_

_"Enrique-poo, wait for me!"_

_"Enrique-poo~!"_

_Eurgh.  Pass me that bucket.  I think I'll need it soon._

_----------_

_"Aww, c'mon Olli!  It's not gonna be that bad!"_

_I stand my ground, hands fisted at my hips like some angry angel of doom.  Glaring for all I'm worth must be quite a sight, because my Italian friend hasn't looked this cowed since Johnny cornered him with a pike maybe seven, eight months back._

_Before I can start chuckling at the memory and lose the mood, I snap, "What possessed you to volunteer sharing my room in the first place?  There's!  Only!  One!  Bed!"_

_"I told you, this place was packed!"_

_"Johnny and Robert could have shared!"_

_"Do you see Johnny willing to relinquish his room to anyone?"_

_"…I see you point.  Fine."_

_"It's not like I kick in my sleep."_

_"You'd better hope not, or I'm planting you headfirst in the toilet."_

_"Now you're hurting my feelings!  What happened to the nice polite guy I know?"  And then he throws a comradely arm around my shoulders and pauses.  "What's this?  Olli, there's bandages on your shoulder.  What happened?"_

_Oh, shit.   Another slip._

_It's probably a bad sign that I can lie with a perfect poker face.  Used to be I was always caught.  "Just a little accident in the kitchen last week.  Nearly killed one of the other cooks, too.  Nothing serious."_

_"If it nearly killed someone, how can it not be serious?  Yeesh, you really should tell us when these things happen."_

_"Come off it.  There's no reason to."_

_He still doesn't look too convinced.  I make it a point to leave the room at the next opportunity.  And later that night, though he does snore, all I can do is lie there and be grateful that he keeps to his side of the bed._

_----------_

_"Another little wannabe trying to Beyblade?  It never ends!"  Johnny's raucous laughter fills the living room.  I glance up at the screen from reading my novel._

_"What's wrong with her?  She's quite good." And the girl on the screen is – her launch is practically perfect and she's gotten up a decent initial offense.  But Robert and Johnny don't quite seem to see this.  _

_"Quite good?  Just look at that preposterous performance!  She is not fit to be in that stadium!"_

_It's me all over again, I realize with faint horror, as my teammates mock her.  I watch the pixelated figure on the screen as it zooms in, the beaded sweat, the determined eyes, the mouth set in a hard grim line.  If it was me on that screen, Olivia, not Oliver, I would be mocked as well, no matter how skilled I proved myself to be._

_That's the way the world is, but I don't have to take it in my own living room.  _

_"Look, just because she's female is no reason to be biased."  Stay polite, Olivia.  Stay calm.  _

_The girl's Blade wobbles to a stop as I watch, her bulky opponent laughing in triumph._

_"You see?"  Robert presses his point home.  "Females are not fit to handle Blades and Bitbeasts."_

_"Oh?  And what about Mariah and Emily, hm? They made it all the way to the Championships."_

_"Backed by men, of course!"_

_The defeated girl on the screen's eyes fill with tears.  I mutter something very rude, causing a blue gaze under a thoughtful frown to be directed my way.  Enrique regards me over his own book, and I blush hotly.  Of course he understood what I was saying.  _

_----------_

"Please promise me you won't tell."

His brows are lowered in that same thoughtful frown again, which means he's probably recalling those same incidents.  Or at least a number of smaller related ones, but those three are the most glaring.  Thinking about it now, it seems most of my slipups were made with him present.  Wonderful.

At least now I'll know how he _does_ react to this sort of thing.  No rants and raves like Johnny, no cold silent fury like Robert.  This is actually…not so bad.  He's taken it surprisingly well, considering I'd probably be screaming obscenities were the roles reversed.  

"Of course!"  He smiles, disarming.  "Though this is actually kind of funny.  I mean, what would everyone say if you told them?"

I flash him a cold look.  "Doubtless I would be thrown out of the team and disgraced, to say the least."

His smile blooms into a full-fledged toothy grin.  "You know, you're more like Johnny and Rob than you think…Olivia."  He pronounces the name like he's trying it out for the first time and liking what he hears.  "You worry too much about what others think, in the wrong ways."

Just what is he implying?

"But I swear I won't tell if it means this much."  He makes a curious – and familiar – sign with the fingers of both hands.  "Swear on the Legendaries."

It's the sign we used to make when we were younger, for the keeping of important promises.  I'm surprised to find he still remembers it.  The bubble of anxiety in my stomach turns into one of sheer exhilarated relief, and I find myself hugging him hard.  "Thank you, Enrique.  Thank you so much."

His arms encircle me, lightly, a little awkwardly.  "Anytime."

Maybe I will survive after all.

----------

"Oh, man, this is classic!"

It turned out that Kai and Emily's relationship wasn't the only thing discussed on the tape.  So was Max and Mariah's, involving skimpy bathing suits and much abuse of the camera, bringing in a "Max steals Rei's girl" issue, and all three involved teens denying it hotly on screen.  Too painful to keep your eyes on for long, in other words.

One other – particularly entertaining – video involved Tyson Kinomiya singing karaoke atop a table in a bar, obviously drunk.  Hillary and Kenny had ended up dragging him out, at which point Gretta's polite slight sneer was once more on the screen.

Johnny had seen it all the night before, so he turned away from the discussion of Japan's drinking age limits (If you can reach the counter, you can get _sake_) to study his teammates' reactions.  Robert was stony as ever, Enrique was…laughing his head off as Tyson's off-key voice continued to warble from the screen.

But why did Oliver look so worried?  He made a mental note to ask sometime later, and promptly forgot about it.  

Behind him, the laughter ceased as Enrique met Olivia's apprehensive stare.

"Bets on us being his next target," she sighed.

~-~-~-~-~
    
    Bad Boy Blader: well, now I'd like to tell you guys a little about myself, the newest muse of... *hears munching* Hunh, what was that--?  Nevermind, well first thing is that I really love Beyblade and... *munching sound again* 
    
    What is that noise!?  As I said, I really love Beyblade fics, and I am glad to work with such good muses and a good writer. I hope we can bring many fics to come- *munching sound gets really loud* 
    
    THAT'S IT! Where is that sound coming from? *walks off soapbox, behind the stage* What is that noise... *sees other muses eating his Pocky*
    
    Jorntil: *waves a paw* Hey! BBB! Look at all this Pocky we found!
    
    *BBB faints*
    
    Jiaan: BBB well what do you think of-- Hey!  Are you all right?  Someone call an ambulance!
    
    Maroku: *looks over lazily* Nah.  I think he just needs some Pocky.

_Drac's notes: This was a bit of a filler chappie, yanno.  BBB provided the info about __Japan__'s drinking age limits.  I hope it's true for the fic's sake, and false for __Japan__'s sake—SAKE, not sa-ke.  Fourth chapter is being worked on as you read this, don't worry! ^_^v And it was long!  LONG!  *works the kinks out of her fingers* I really need to cut down on the flashbacks!_

**_bimbo-blonde_**_ – Well, here's Enrique's reaction for ya! XD  **Kkornelia** - *Snicker* No it's not hard to believe…glad you like the fic so far!  **flaming pineapple** – Well, here ya go.  I'll try not to be so lazy with the next one.  **The-Dark-Fire-Elf** – Sankuu for the compliments, nei!  **zerikyo** –Our pleasure! ** Hex** – Because I, Drac, am a lazy writer who BBB has to constantly kick in the arse (meaning: motivate), it's better to check back every once a week or so. ^^; But I'll update!  I will!  **Riyao Machrine** – I know, cliffhangers are absolutely evil, but I try to keep them to a minimum, yanno?  BBB and I just couldn't help ourselves that time around.  **kurokioku** - *grabshake* No!  Don't die!  You must keep reading!  YOU MUST!  *blasts away all the reviewers* …Whoopsie. _


End file.
